While there are some differences across these frameworks in terms of
conceptualisation and categories, there is a great deal of convergence about the key
role that intellectual capital has for a company (Kujansivu, 2008; Schiuma et al.,
2008). Furthermore, all the frameworks recognised that intellectual capital is a
multidimensional construct that resides at various level (individual, network and
organisational) and that includes both the knowledge held by the individuals and
the knowledge stored within organisational database, business processes, systems
and relationships.
Following an accounting-based definition, some authors have argued that a
company’s intellectual capital can be defined as the difference between the value of its
tangibles net assets and its market capitalisation (Lev, 2001) even if this difference
is quite problematic, as the market value often fluctuates for reasons that have little
to do with the company’s operations (Garcı`a-Ayuso, 2003). In addition such definition
does not help in the recognition or identification of specific sub-categories of
intellectual capital and therefore it is considered rather reductive of intellectual capital meaning (Striukova et al., 2008).